Delayed

I honestly hate my phone, the damn thing keeps missing my calls, or notifies me of messages only hours after they were received. Trust me I’ve gotten a lot of backlash for it. My parents think I’m ignoring them, my friends think i’m trying to distance myself from them. Worse of all, my girlfriend thinks I’m seeing someone else. It couldn’t be any further from the truth honestly. I tried to explain to everyone about my phone issue but no one seems to believe me. You see, I work the night shift at a metal fabrication shop, no big deal but it’s in a rough area. My girlfriend would sometimes bring me dinner since I would forget to bring mine from home.

My phone buzzed at 8pm, I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned the screen on revealing the notification. A text from her saying:

8:02pm:

[GF<3: Left your dinner in the front seat of your car. You really gotta lock your doors when you get into work. I’m gonna go out with the girls tonight I love you.]

8:03pm:

[ME: Thanks hun, I’ll see you when I get home. Have a good night and be safe. Love you too.]

9:30 rolled around and the dinner bell rang out, I ran out to my car and grabbed my lunch bag. A little while later I was eating 2 day old jambalaya. I was chatting it up with my coworkers, they were busting on me about me forgetting my dinner and had to have my girlfriend hand deliver it to me. What could I say, I was very forgetful, couldn’t help it. I finished my last few bites of delicious and spicy meal, putting the Tupperware in my lunch bag. The rest of the shift went by pretty smoothly. I jammed out to my music and having my occasional scary story podcast on now and again. Before I knew it, 2:30 finally rolled around and I was out of there quicker than a marathon sprinter.

I arrived home to an empty apartment about an hour later, usually my tv would be on with my girlfriend sleeping on the couch, not tonight. She must be having more fun that I thought. I showered, got into my pjs and hit the sack. I grabbed my phone one last time and sent a message saying be safe. I fell asleep soon after.

The flurry of vibrations and dings woke me up quickly. I looked beside me to find only an empty space beside me. I groaned getting up and grabbing my phone. What I saw shocked and aggravated me. 3 missed calls, 1 voicemail, and 7 text messages. I tapped on the messenger icon and then on my girlfriend’s contact.

9:03pm [GF<3: alright babe!]

10:17pm: [GF<3: hey I tried calling you but you didn’t answer. Well I’m just telling you I’m not really feeling up for going out so I’ll see you when you get back]

11:30pm: [GF<3: there’s someone weird knocking at the door. He looks homeless I tried telling him to go away but he won’t leave. I think I’m gonna call the cops.]

12:07am: [GF<3: I’m really scared I tried calling you again but you’re not answering! Please I don’t like this feeling of being alone and watched! I want to call the police but nothing is going on. I think I’m just being paranoid.]

12:37am: [GF<3: oh god he’s in here! He got in by the fire escape! He’s inside]

My heart was beating a million miles a minute, I immediately accessed my voicemail. I followed the prompt and entered my code.

You have one new voice message: “Argh please God no! Please I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die please! Don’t do this ah!”

Her screaming went on for another thirty seconds.I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, she was going through some unimaginable torture. I tapped on the call icon and began to dial 911. I was suddenly stopped by a new text alert. It was from my girlfriend’s number and I opened the unread message immediately.

2:55am: [GF<3: hey just like to tell ya, your girl was fun to play around with. I still have her with me and I’m enjoying every minute I can with her amazing body but don’t worry though I’m willing to share just check under the bed.]

I kneeled down slowly lifting the blankets to reveal her decapitated head, lying on its side starting back at me.